Geoege surratt



Patented Apr. 1,1890.

N VE N TUI? vBY G. SURRATT. TIRE ADJUSTER.

(No Model.)

W/TNESSES UNITED STATES ,PATENT OEEICE.

GEORGE SURRATT, OF GAINESVILLE, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF THREE-FOURTHS TOHORACE B. FLETCHER, SHELBY L. POST, AND FRANK L. GALIGIIER,

OF SAME PLACE.

TIRE-ADJUSTER.

SIECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 424,692, dated April 1,1890.

Application led January 16,1890. Serial No. 337,153- (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE SURRATT, of Gainesville, in the count-yetCooke and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Im- 5proveiiient in Tire-Adjusters, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention is in the nature of an improved tire-adjuster forvehicle-wheels, designed for the purpose of tightening the tire when itbe- Io comes too loose for the wheels and to expand the tire when itbecomes too tight; and it consists in the peculiar construction andarrangement of the tire-joint, which I will now proceed to describe withreference to the drawings, in which- Figure lis a side view of thetire-j oint. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the same; Fig. 3,a transverse section through line l l, and Fig. 4 a side view of a wheelembodying zo a modification.

Referring to Figs. l, 2, and 3, A A represent the ends of the telly, andB B the ends of the tire, which approach each other to form the joint.The ends of the tire are thickened to 2 5 form terminal lugs, which arebored to form sockets, that are screwthreaded in opposite directions toreceive the opposite ends of a right and lett screw-stem. C is thisscrewstem, whose middle portion, shown, is made 3o square, and whoseends are screw-threaded in opposite directions.

D is a turning block corresponding iii crossseetion and external shapeto the terminal ends of the tire and perforated with a square 3 5 holeto receive and snugly fit the square middle portion of the screw-stein.h'lhe inner faces of this turning block and the terminal lugs of thetire are slotted or channeled longitudinally on a line with the innerface of the 4c telly, and into this channel is received the rib a of aclip-plate F, which is connected to l the ends of the telly and tire bymeans of tirebolts h.

E are filling-plates of sheet metal, corree sponding to thecross-section of the turning block and adapted to be fitted between thelatter and the abutting terminal ends ot the tire.

The function and method of adjusting the various parts are as follows:The turning 5o block D is designed to be seized by a wrench and turnedabout the axis of the screw-stein, and as its square perforationembraces the square middle portion of the screw-stem this block in turnacts like a wrench to turn the screw-stem, and its right and leftthreaded ends, entering the sockets of the tire, draw the two sectionstogether, one or more fillingplates E being used upon one or both sidesof the block, according to the necessities of the 6o case. The clip F isthen applied, and its rib a, fitting in the channel at the top of theblock and the ends of the tire, locks the turning block, so that itstread-tace is locked in coincidence with the tread of the tire, therebypreventing this block from accident-ally turning. The object in makingthe block to slide loosely on the squared portion of the screw-stem isto permit the block to be shifted a little to one side or the other toadapt it to thethickness 7o of the filling-plates on each side, insuringa tight fit at the joints, with the outer face of the turning blockalways in the plane of the outer face of the tire.

In fitting the turning block to the screwstem it is not necessary thatthe block should have a square hole and the screw a square shoulder; butany connection which causes the block and screw to turn together and yetslide independently upon each other may be 8o used. Thus, for instance,a hexagonal or oc tagonal fitting maybe employed, or a feather or splineconnection may be used.

In the form of joint thus far described the clip F forms a neat finishfor locking the turn- 8 5 ing block, such as I prefer to use for lightvehicles. For heavy work, however, I use a different means for lookin gthis turning block, as shown in Figflt. For this use the terminal endsof the tire are formed with perforated 9o ears h2 Ui, and the turningblock has a hole coincident with the holes in these cars, th rough allof which a bolto is passed, so as to lock the block against turning.

As shown, the tires are made of channel-iron 9 5 with flanges at thesides of the felly and terminating in the enlarged socket-lugs; but itis obvious that my improvement is applicable,

also, to plain tires. The terminal tire-lugs, withvthe j oint-sections,may also be constructed apart from the tire, so as to adapt theinvention to be applied to tires already in use by any blacksmith.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. Thecombination, with the terminal tirelugs having rightand left screW-threaded sockets, of a right and left screw-stem, a turning block ofsubstantially the same cross-section as the rim of the Wheel,connectedto the screw-stem so as to slide thereon but revolve rigidly together,and means, substantially as described, for locking' the turning block tothe terminal lugs.

2. The combination, with the terminal tirelugs having right and leftscrewthreaded sockets, of a right and left screw-stem, a turning blockof substantially the saine cross-section as the rim of the Wheel,connected to the block, and illing-plates interposed between the blocksand terminal lugs, substantiallyas and for the purpose described.

The above specification of my invention signed by me in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE SURRATT. Vitnesses:

EDWD. W. BYRN, SoLoN C. KEMON.

